Utterly Feral
by EpicUltimate
Summary: Celestia hides a secret, a Stallion stumbles into Ponyville from who knows where, and a string of adventures emerge. The Mane Six aren't too friendly toward the kind Stallion and Celestia loses her greatest guard to an unexpected foe, knowledge.(My first MLP FanFic;Stick with me this is going places;T isn't an accurate rating, just being careful)
1. Chapter 1:The Beginning

**The Beginning**

In the great land of Equestria, in the capital city of Canterlot, in the royal castle, in the royal bed chambers, Princess Celestia woke with a start. She gasped then, quickly, silenced herself checking to make sure she had not woken Luna. She had shared a room with Luna since Celestia could remember. They slept in a large room with a mural that covered the walls and filled the ceiling and floor. The room was symmetrical except that Celestia's half of the room was a forest in the day while Luna's was the same forest, but at night. Celestia slept in the bed in the north-east corner of the room while Luna slept in the north-west corner of the room. There was a third bed in the center of the south wall which the princesses liked to call their "guest bed", just in case they ever happened to have a guest. Celestia quickly and quietly got up from her bed and moved to the door.

Outside the large door paced Adam Shield, Celestia's personal guard. He was a unicorn pony and a proud member of the Shield family, a family of nobles that had been producing bodyguards for ages. His fur was a burgundy while his hair was a dark cyan. His cutie mark was what truly made him special. His cutie mark was a shining shield in front of what appeared to be a sun perfectly identical to Princess Celestia's cutie mark. He got his cutie mark the first time he singlehoovedly saved Celestia's life from a changeling assassin. This cutie mark came with abilities, ever since that day whenever the Princess was in trouble he knew. It also came with the ability to sense Celestia's emotions and sometimes even thoughts. This is why he was specifically assigned to guard the Princess. This ability was at times considered a burden because that meant whatever Celestia felt so did Adam. He had woken up about half an hour ago because Princess Celestia had been having a nightmare. With sleep evading him he decided to head to the castle and see if she was ok. Now he paced back and forth in front of the door thinking about whether or not to knock on the door. On one hand, Celestia could be in distress or even danger as all he could feel was her fear. On the other hand, if she wasn't then he'd be in for a beating from both Celestia and Luna. He found himself about to knock on the door when it slowly opened with a small squeak and there, surprised to see him, stood Princess Celestia.

"Oh thank goodness," Adam sighed," You're ok"

"Of course I'm ok,"Celestia replied," I thought I gave you the week off."

"I thought you were in trouble, I felt your fear, and so I came down here"

"You know you can't trust those urges of yours"

"They haven't been wrong yet, Princess," Adam had begun to base his whole life around Celestia lately. The idea of these urges just being make believe, like most people thought, killed him inside but he knew they were real and he was going to stick to the belief," So, then, where are you going?"

"On a walk through the garden,"Celestia lied quite well.

"I'll come with you,"Adam wasn't convinced.

"I would like to go alone,"Celestia replied. Now Adam knew she was lying.

"You don't have that option, Miss," There was a pause in the conversation while Celestia thought about his answer. After a little while of Adam and Celestia just standing there in the hall she made her decision. Quickly her horn glowed a bright yellow, the color of the sun, and then she was gone as if she was never there in the first place. Adam knew what she had done. She used an invisibility spell in the hopes that she could get away but like Adam's abilities wouldn't let her get away so easily. Lately, whenever he needed to get to Celestia his powers would take over and he trusted his instinct. This was one of those times. His horn began to glow and suddenly he knew where she was. Maybe it was a location spell? He hadn't performed one of these before but he wasn't gonna waste time thinking about it. Celestia had made it pretty far with her long legs but Adam wasn't going to lose her very easily. He raced through the halls of the quiet, dark castle. He was outside the castle in no time but it was too late. Adam didn't understand how he knew but he knew that Celestia had gotten away flying to whatever location she was going to.

Adam was considered a confident colt but when he freaked out, he freaked out. Not many people ever saw what that looked like. At that moment, he raced back into the castle through the halls and straight to the Princess's room.

"Luna!" Adam didn't have time to lower his voice. Luna unaware of the situation slowly got up from her bed. Then something clicked in her head. She shot off her bed and quickly head over to Adam.

"What time is it!?"Luna yelled.

"It's about midnight but ..." Adam was interrupted.

"Oh no oh no, what about the moon?"Luna asked.

"Your sister raised it earlier,"Adam answered, " I'm trying to tell you, your sister left just a couple minutes ago for an unknown location"

"What?"

Adam had lost, " I'm freakin' out what if she's in danger? What if I could have stopped her? I've failed as her guard and now I don't know where she is," Luna sighed and gave him a why-did-you-wake-me-up-for-this look.

"Ok, just calm down. I'm sure my sister is simply a little stressed. She'll be back before you know it."

"I can still sense her fear!"He shouted, having completely lost it by now. Luckily, for Adam fate was definitely on his side that night because his horn began glowing once again, "What NOW?"And then Adam disappeared. Only when he reappeared he wasn't in the castle or even in Canterlot but instead he was next to a forest too large and too thick to see the other side. He stood in a small field in the middle of the forest. Other than a forest there was a small cave in front of him. He remembered something his mother used to tell him. She had told him when he was a young colt that a unicorns magic is special and never betrays you so if your magic ever does something unexpected or unexplained then you should probably go with it. Of course she didn't say it like that. She said it a lot more gracefully. Either way the meaning stays the same Adam had to trust that the same thing can be applied here as well. So thinking confident thoughts and about the hope of Celestia's safety he entered the cave.

The cave was moist and despite the warm outside air it somehow managed to be cold. He walked through the cave for about a minute and just when he was about to give up he saw a dim light in the distance. As he got closer to the light he realized that the walls had become smoother as he walked further. Finally, he reached the light to find an even stranger sight. It was a large room made out of the cave walls. On the far wall chains hung from the wall. The chains themselves seemed to glow with power and without thinking Adam knew what Celestia had been afraid of the whole time. He understood why she wanted to go alone and he knew where she was going. She was coming here and he was here. That wouldn't look good. He had to get out of here before she showed up and as he turned around he was met by the shocked face of Princess Celestia.

"How did you get here?"was her first question.

"My horn, it brought me here" Adam replied.

"So you have no idea what this place is?" Celestia asked.

For a moment, Adam thought about telling her the truth and that Adam did but thinking about it again, "No, I have no idea"

"Well then I'd better tell you"Celestia replied. That wasn't what Adam had expected but he didn't reject the information as Celestia began her story. About an hour later after the story and after Adam's question they left the cave and began the long walk back to Canterlot. They talked a lot on the way back. Most of it was just to cover up the fear they now shared. However, both agreed sharing the burden was nicer than going at it alone. Adam insisted many times for Celestia to leave him as she would get back faster on her own. She, however, refused as that would mean leaving Adam behind. After three days, two nights and a terrified Canterlot they finally were found by a search party. Celestia and Adam were starved, tired and thirsty by the time they arrived back at Canterlot and with one last gasp, they both collapsed.

Celestia woke to find Adam pacing back and forth by her bed nervously. He stopped in the middle of his pace and turn to face the now awake Celestia. His horn glowed and suddenly Celestia found herself with a platter covered in her favorite breakfast in her lap. Toast, eggs, ,sunny-side-up, of course, and her favorite flower, the sunflower. Celestia didn't hesitate to dig in but between bits she spoke and she said," I need to warn Luna."

Adam was quick to reply,"Already done"

"She believed you?"

"She didn't believe the whole story. It seemed as if she doesn't remember... but she did close off Canterlot until you were better,"A long silence followed. Now what did they do? Adam knew something he shouldn't know and both of them knew that. Adam flinched. Ever since he had gotten back, his abilities had seemed to almost upgrade. He knew every dream Celestia had and any thought she thought. Celestia's mind was a scary place. Some of it scared him other images shocked him and very few ever made sense. Now that she was awake her thoughts became a lot clearer.

"What now?"She thought. It was a question he was asking himself as well. Then her mind switched to an idea that hadn't crossed Adam's, "Maybe a memory wipe would work,"was what she thought. Adam's eyes widened the idea of the Princess wiping his memory was beyond him. He couldn't begin to grasp the possibility Celestia could do something like that.

"What is it?"Celestia said out loud this time.

"Are you serious?" Adam asked. Celestia tilted her head. She didn't understand the comment.

Adam paused before going on. He had worried about the Princess all the time he would risk his life for her, he still would but he finds out a small secret and suddenly her first thought was to betray him. Now that he thought about it he couldn't read her memories this well before they got back. Maybe she had thought about this the entire time. Luckily for him, he could now always be a step ahead of her.

Adam had never convinced anyone, other than family, that he could truly read Princess Celestia's mind or tell when she was in danger. Everyone took it as a joke that he played on them. To his family, this was normal as they all felt this way to one person or another. They were considered the shield family because of their cutie marks. They were all a shield in front of something, sometimes even someone elses cutie mark. Others had gone as far as to believe it was just a family joke that they could read someones mind or spot danger a mile away.

He felt everything Celestia felt and read every thought. In a sense he could be considered another side of her that was hidden away. At the same time Adam was still Adam and still wanted things Adam wanted. Adam didn't want his mind wiped but at the same time Celestia was afraid of him because he knew these things. He feared that he would betray Celestia even if he didn't mean to. He knew what he had to do but he didn't want to know. Adam looked down at his hooves and thought about why he was Celestia's guard. There was a simple answer, he was good at it, and there was a much deeper answer which he didn't want to face. He hoped maybe that he wouldn't have to do it but Celestia wouldn't stop thinking it. Celestia was hesitant and you could tell by her thoughts she didn't want or mean to harm Adam in any way but at the same time Adam was a risk to the entire kingdom. Adam would have to do it," Maybe..Maybe, you should just wipe my memory," He didn't look up from his hooves.

"What!? No! I would never do that to you."Celestia sounded shocked and so did her thoughts. She had not expected the idea to come from Adam.

Adam looked up,"Don't lie to me!"Adam yelled. He was on the verge of tears. It was too much. He didn't want to, but he needed to, or did he? and he did, but why? just because? So many voices in his head he couldn't stand it,"Just do it quickly and get it over with."

Now it was Celestia's turn to look down. She got up from her bed and approached Adam. Adam the stallion who had managed to save her on multiple occasions and risked his life for her many other times. He had traveled for three full days with him insisting that she leave and let him die all along the way. Now she stood in front of him preparing to wipe his memory. She had met many people in her many years but Adam was one of the most remarkable of them all. She had cried many times in her early years but the last time she remembered crying was on her 500 birthday but standing there she let loose one tear. Her horn began to glow as she summoned her power.

"Promise I'll still be your guard?" Adam asked.

There was no time for Celestia to reply but Adam could hear her mind screaming yes. She could barely think another thought but if she had thought anything right before the spell had gone off it was. 'Goodbye' and then Adam realized his mistake.


	2. Chapter 2:Introductions

**Introductions**

Twilight had invited everypony over for dinner that night to tell them the good news, Celestia had been found, which they would all be happy to hear. First, however, she needed food and because she lived in a library there wasn't really a kitchen. Actually, there was a small one in one of the back rooms but it seemed too small and she disliked using it. So she decided they would have a cold dinner. Some apples perhaps? She thought about this while she walked through the market and due to hard thinking almost forgot the world around her. The next thing she remembered she was on her rump on the edge of the market with a tall stallion clumsily walking by her.

He looked around confused and disoriented as if he was out of place and wasn't used to his surroundings yet. He seemed to stop after walking a few feet, turning around to find out what had bumped into him. He squinted in Twilights direction and wobbled back over to her. She, meanwhile, had gotten to her feet and brushed the dust off of her. She wasn't happy about being knocked over and she didn't even see who had knocked her over. She looked around to find a curious stallion staring at her. The stallion was a completely black unicorn pony with green eyes and midnight blue hair which reminded Twilight strangely of Luna's, even if she had seen Luna's hair in multiple forms. She ignored him and began picking up the groceries that now lay around her feet. The stallion continued to stare at her while she did this.

Finally, when Twilight was done with her groceries she looked up at the stallion. He had not apologised or even spoken during that time. He had just stood there. Twilight thought of this as a compliment. She was one of the Elements of Harmony and the main apprentice of Princess Celestia, ruler of the kingdom. This was not the first time people had stared at her in awe, in fact, she had taken photos with complete strangers before. She was known by most in the kingdom of Equestria. She was the current event happening in the land. But unlike everyone else who wished to talk to her this stallion was too shy to talk to her. In a situation where one person is too shy to start a conversation the other must begin, she had learned this as one of her earlier lessons in Friendship.

'Hello,'She began,'My name's Twilight Sparkle. What is your name?' As expected her beginning got a reaction out of him. The reaction was a large smile. He took a large breath and sighed but his smile didn't fade. He still didn't seem like he wanted to smile faded, he shook his head and raised his hoof to his head. He rubbed his eyes before finally speaking. His voice was a dulcet baritone.

'Do you know where I can find a good place to stay for the night?' The stallion asked. Twilight thought about his question for a good minute before she finally answered him.

'No, I don't believe there's anywhere in Ponyville.' He frowned at her reply in a way that almost looked as if he blamed it on her. He looked toward the market and smiled again. He didn't say goodbye as he walked away into the marketplace.

Later that day Twilight stood in her small kitchen cooking something way beyond her cooking capability. This didn't matter to her as she knew it would be fine with the use of a little magic. She hated to use magic for small things but today she had friends coming over and friends were more important than slightly misusing magic.

One by one her friends arrived for the get together that night. First, there was Pinkie Pie who never was late for a party and often would arrive early, sometimes too early. Applejack arrived soon after Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy followed. Rarity barely made it on time as she had been working on a new piece. The group of friends had all arrived on time. The group decided not to bother waiting to eat so they all sat down around the table and began the beautiful meal Twilight had prepared.

Twilight had started to pass out appetizers when there was a clear knock at the door. Twilight had not expected another visitor considering the night was supposed to be dedicated to her friends. Even so Twilight would not leave someone at the door and so she walked over to meet the person. She opened the door to find the stallion from earlier standing at the door. His coat glinted with a thin layer of water. He shook one last time spraying a couple of drops of water into Twilights face. He didn't try to fix his mane and it still managed to work itself into a semi-organized position. After shaking himself again he realized Twilight had arrived at the door. He quickly apologized,"oh, sorry about that," This time unlike the last he seemed to be awake. He was smiling a caring smile and he looked happy to see her. On the other hand, as soon as he realized she had opened the door he walked in.

Twilight was appalled by how rude he was being. She had met him once before and he hadn't even told her his name. Now he arrived at her house and barged in as if he had been invited. He was looking around her house, examining it. He seemed to know where everything was from the moment he stepped in. Twilights friends had now realized the strange stallion walking around the house. They could tell he hadn't been invited by the face Twilight was wearing. Finally, someone built up the nerve to speak up. Rainbow Dash being the ruff and tumble person she was spoke first.

"Hey!"The stallion jumped at her exclamation, "What do you think you're doing wandering in here like that?"She asked. She didn't get up from her chair but her tone was obviously threatening. She glared in his direction. He turned to face her with a curious look. He wasn't afraid of her but he was startled by her. He seemed to understand the concept of what she was saying but was confused at how his repl should tilted his head to the right and asked, "I'm sorry, have I offended you?" The group was starting to realize that this stallion had no idea what he was doing. He was clueless and he didn't realize it was offensive to enter a house uninvited. When no one replied to his question he went back to looking at the books on the shelves. Something caught his eyes on the bookshelf. He turned to Twilight who was staring back in anger and distress. He seemed to recognize this and two wires connected.

"I'm sorry for barging in I was just wondering if you could lend me a blanket," He seemed very serious.

"No, I don't have a blanket that you can borrow," Her voice clarified to the stallion that he should leave, quickly, and so he did. Soon he was far out of sight but not quite out of mind for the six friends. Twilight sat down and for the rest of the night they conversed about the strange stallion and Twilights previous experience with him. Who had he been? Why was he so clueless? What could he possibly need a blanket for? And something that no one was curious about but Twilight was, What had caught his eye on the bookshelf?

Later that night Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash all left to return home. The group decided that if anyone saw the Stallion, as they had started to call him, then they would contact the rest of them. As always the friends were friends and always would be. Harmony was their thing and they would stick to it. Twilight smiled at her friends from her second story window as they all walked away. Twilight sat there awhile before going to bed for the night.

She woke up in the morning to the beautiful birds chirping outside her window as she did most days since moving to Ponyville. Twilight enjoyed the relaxed days when she had nothing planned. Today was a day she could go out and live a little. She rarely had any free time to herself. She loved her friends more than she could express but having friends can be quite exhausting and time consuming. She got up from her bed and headed down the stairs. Spike had just left the day before for Canterlot and from what Twilight understood from the Princess's last letter, he would be gone a while to help deliver mail for the princess. And what better to do on a free day then read a book out of her large selection.

She looked at the large array of books all across the bookshelves that filled every wall. She looked first at all the informational books in her collection. They were on every topic imaginable from science to magic. However she realized that she had read most of these books at least once before. It was times like this when she wished she was back in Canterlot where the royal archives were just a short walk away and even just her library was pretty impressive, in Canterlot. She sighed and moved on to look at all of her fiction books. She hadn't read them all mainly because she didn't enjoy them as much as the ones that taught you things. There were exceptions. When she had read the Daring Doo books way back in her earlier days she had enjoyed it a lot. There have been others but that was one of her bigger ones and was the one that really got her attached to reading.

She looked over her fiction. This took up a large section of the library as it was the most popular genre in Ponyville. Now that she thought about it this had been the shelf the Stallion had been looking at when he had spotted something. Maybe he had seen a book that was important to him. Maybe she was wrong and it wasn't the books that had shocked him. Why did she care so much? The Stallion was a random character that would most likely never show up in her life ever again. At the same time she couldn't help but remember the aura he gave off, confused yet aware, stupid yet ever so intelligent, and worthless but powerful.

After a while Twilight gave up trying to find a book and instead decided to go for a quick constitutional to clear her mind. As she reached the door though she noticed what had been staring her in the face for the past couple of minutes. She turned to see a gap between the books on the bookshelf. She was never missing a book, unless someone came to check out a book but she memorized every book checked out. No matter how she looked at it it didn't make sense. She was supposed to have a book there. The only explanation Twilight could think of is if someone took the book and the only person in her house lately, besides her friends, was the Stallion. She knew very little about the Stallion and while she hated to judge so soon she saw no other explanation other than him stealing the book. She would have to look over all the books to find the particular book that was missing but first she should tell her friends of her discovery. And so, Twilight set off to find her friends.

It took her awhile but finally she had collected all her friends and brought them to Sugar Cube Corner. Twilight quickly got down to business describing her morning, stated her assumption, and waited for a reply. Everyone was distressed now. They had a clueless, arrogant, thief roaming Ponyville and they didn't even know his name. Fluttershy nearly hid under the table, Rainbow Dash was confident that she could hunt him down, everyone else was in awe. Then came Pinkie.

'Who want CUPCAKES?!'Pinkie squealed. She had just finished baking a test batch for her friends. It was a secret recipe. After a couple delicious cupcakes the friends decided to take a walk that would hopefully relieve some tension. They all decided to walk down to Apple Acres as Applejack needed to get back to work and they could have another snack there if they wanted. Along the walk they chatted in the normal way, or as normal as it got.

'What's it like working all day Applejack?' Rainbow Dash teased.

'It feels great. Maybe you should try it sometime,'Applejack replied. The two of them had had a friendly rivalry since they had become friends a long time ago. There had been times when it had gotten out of hand but they only become closer friends.

'So Rarity what are you working on today?' Fluttershy changed the subject. She didn't enjoy Applejack and Rainbow Dash arguing even if it was just play. Rarity took over.

'Well, I'm working on an ensemble for...' Rarity continued on for a long while and no one could really say they payed attention to all of it. They arrived at Apple Acres shortly after.

Applejack said goodbye to all of her friends and turned to enter Apple Acres. Everyone decided against having an apple together agreeing that they all had eaten enough and most of them had things to do so they went their separate ways. Applejack watched as her friends walked away before turning to get back to work. But before she could do anything she saw him. He was standing right in front of her. The Stallion was on Apple Acres. He stuck out his hoof and with a relaxed smile said, "Hello. My names Feral."

((sorry this chapter wasn't very good))


	3. Chapter 3:The Stallion

The Stallion

The Stallions name was definitely not Stallion and he wasn't going to change that fact either. No, He liked his name a lot. Feral was the name and at the moment his game was bucking trees. He had been rejected by Twilight and her friends, one of which he had just seen again. The first time he had made mistakes but this time he had introduced himself properly as he had always been taught to yet she seemed overwhelmed and quickly ran of the premises and away from the farm. She hadn't been the first person he had told his name to so far. He had meant to tell Twilight his name but had not succeeded. They had quickly shooed him out of the house with their glares.

After they had shooed him out he had wandered around Ponyville for a long time. He had walked through the market, staring at the variety of food. He could not afford any of it as he had not a bit with him. He was starving and after falling in the river near Ponyville like an idiot he was quite cold. Feral spent hours trying to do one thing or another. He tried finding a place to sleep for the night, and failed, he tried to get a blanket or pillow, and failed, he tried looking for a job, and failed. After a good couple of hours of doing nothing in particular he was still wandering around and soon it became dark and cold outside. It was becoming night time He began to shiver and still he wandered around. Then a miracle happened. A door opened and he saw an earth pony standing in the doorway. She was a plump mare with a kind aura. She was also about twice his age.

"What are you doing out so late?"She asked.

"I'm sorry did I wake you up or something?" He turned to her. He couldn't see her very well, the light being at her back, so he couldn't quite tell if she was angry or not.

"No, But you look lost," She replied

"Oh, yeah, I'm not from here and don't have a place to stay for the night," He paused as he remembered what a horrible position he was in, "So I'm just trying not to freeze or anything," He sighed.

"Well come on in then. We can't have you freezing to death" The mare invited. Feral thought about it a moment, listing the pros and cons of going in. One of the biggest cons was his dad always warned him not talk to strangers unless it was a public occasion. On the other hand his father wasn't here and he was freezing cold. With that thought he approached the door smiling. He nodded to the mare and then entered the house. He paused as his eyes adjusted to the inside lights. He could see the mare more clearly now. She had a blue coat and pink hair. She wore a small apron and had three cupcakes for a cutie mark. She smile at him in the caring way he had seen so infrequently lately.

"That's better now just lay down on the couch in the other room and I'll wake you up in the morning," She said.

"What? But...seriously?" Feral was confused.

"Yes, dear, just.. tell me your name," She asked very little for a place to stay.

"Of course, My name's Feral. Nice to meet you," Feral smiled. He walked over to the couch and laid down. He had found a friend in Ponyville. Of course, she couldn't help him forever, he would have to eat, sleep, and now he would have to pay her back for the night sleep even if she didn't want it. He should get a job he decided. He couldn't find one today but tomorrow he would look harder and, who knows, maybe the woman who helped him out had a suggestion for him. Feral watched as she began to walk up the stairs. She stopped about halfway up and looked down at him.

"Oh, silly me, I forgot to say my name. It's ," And then she was gone. Up the stairs and into whatever was upstairs. He stayed up a little longer thinking about his day. He had had a crazy day. After another hour of no sleep, he always had trouble sleeping as he always seemed to have more than enough energy, he heard something faint from up the stairs and then it grew louder and louder until he could clearly hear it. It was babies crying. It was a sound that usually meant distress but other times just meant they were annoyed or bored. must be a mother. The crying quieted down and Feral saw head pop down the stairs.

"You've got bright eyes," Was her first comment.

"A lot of people say that,"It was true as well. Often he would scare people when he walked at night because no one could see him until they spotted the stunning, and sometimes described as terrifying, eyes, "Is everything ok up there?" Feral asked.

"Yeah it's fine. Pound and Pumpkin are just acting up again. I hope it doesn't bother you."

Feral didn't mind at all especially since he was getting a bed for the night. Also now that he thought of it he had always been a good foalsitter mmaybe he could help. He had to repay for her kindness somehow. He got up from the couch, "Do you think maybe I can help? I'm good with kids," was about to say no when the crying erupted louder than before. Then there was a pause while she thought about his question,'I guess you could come up,' Feral followed upstairs into a small kids room. Another stallion was already there trying to calm down the small babies in their crib. Feral assumed it was . Feral let approach first. Mr and whispered between each other before they turned to Feral and stepped back a bit. Feral stepped forward and looked at the babies crying in their cribs. They didn't exactly enjoy a new person standing so close either but Feral , as usually, had been prepared for the foals complaints. He, quietly, shushed them and while this didn't quiet them much the foals did relax slightly. People said a lot of things about Feral, good and bad, and one of them was he had a very calming stare. He had used this skill often from stopping a potential fight to just day to day uses like what he was doing now. He just sort of sat down next to the crib and soon the foals sat down in their crib and stared back at him. Was what he did magical? Feral couldn't really tell. Did he care much? No, and he hoped the Cakes didn't either. Soon after the staring contest between the foals and Feral had started, the foals lost and fell, into what Feral hoped was a deep, dream filled, and altogether glorious sleep.

'There,'Feral whispered as he got up and headed back downstairs to get a good night sleep. and , however, stayed up and in the darkness of their bedroom whispered about their guest. They were both wondering the same thing after his last stunt. What was his talent? They couldn't see it in the dark of the childrens room. Finally, after realizing how tired they were they went to bed.

The next day, Feral was woken up by , "Come on wake up we have to open the store now," Feral woke up and pulled the cover off him, getting off of the, surprisingly comfy, couch.

"Thank you for letting me stay for the night," Feral said, "Is it possible you know of anyplace I could get a job?" Feral asked, getting straight to business. , however, was only half awake at the moment and if she had been completely awake she probably would have said something else but.

"You could try Apple Acres. I don't know if they let non-family members work there but,"She paused, "I'm sorry but I should really open up shop."

"I understand" And with that Feral left.

He headed out the door down the road and around the corner. watched as he went when she remembered she was supposed to ask about his talent she had completely forgotten and now she couldn't even remember what his cutie mark looked like. Had it been something to do with kids? That would explain the night before. She was thinking about this as she turned the sign from closed to open. Without warning Pinkie Pie appeared in front of the door.

'HEY . I'm ready to work" She exclaimed. She was always ready the second the sign was flipped

"Oh, yes, Pinkie, We can get right on that," walked back into SugarCube Corner, "I have a fun story to tell you when we're done too."

Feral had decided to try looking for a job at Apple Acres. It wasn't clear if they were looking to hire anyone but it was a lead. Today, he had had more luck, the people he asked gave him helpful direction to Apple Acres, the people at the market smiled at him and he smiled back, and one even gave him a free sandwich which was something he hadn't had in who knows how long. He hadn't had any food the day before and all he could say was he was really hungry by that point.

He arrived at Apple Acres after a long circle of the town and about a an hour and a half of time Feral would never get back. He was pretty confident he knew his way around Ponyville by now but he didn't have time to go on a tour. He got to the gate which was locked for one reason or another. Luckily for him, a farmhand was standing near the gate hitting trees with his hind legs. Feral waited until the farmhand was done with the tree he was kicking before waving over to him. He caught his attention quite quickly. The farmhand seemed surprised to see Feral as if he was doing something odd.

"YYYup?"The farmhand asked.

"Hello. I was wondering if you guys needed an extra farmhand." Feral yelled over. This got an even more confused look out of the farmhand. Even so the farmhand walked over and opened up the gate for him. Without saying anything he started walking toward the barn near the fence, "Should I follow you?"Feral asked.

"YYup." the farmhand replied. Feral followed him to the barn. He opened the large red door to an open space which as far as Feral could tell was not used for anything in particular. Next to one of the walls near an open window slept an old mare. She was sleeping in a rocking chair ever so peacefully. The farmhand approached very carefully and quietly. He gave her a little nudge and she jumped.

"Granny Smith, we have a stallion here who would like a job,"the farmhand said in a dulcet bass which sounded somewhat like Ferals except deeper. This sentence was the first thing he had heard the farmhand say other than yyyup and being completely honest. He sounded better sticking to yyyyup. Feral wondered if he would sound good saying yyup.

"Is he Apple Family?" She asked looking at the farmhand.

He shook his head,"Nnnope" Feral enjoyed the sound of the farmhand's nopes and yups. He didn't quite understand why. From what Feral was hearing in their voices it sounded like the interview was going badly. When Granny Smith smiled and tone changed in what sounded like a good way.

"What's your name, sonny?" She asked turning to face Feral

"Feral, ma'am"

"Well, that's different." Granny Smith continued, "We could always use another farmhand with all the relatives on the bigger branches of the Apple Farms,"Feral had no idea what she was talking about but it still looked like she was talking to him, "How soon can you start?" Granny Smith asked.

"Anytime you want me to start," Feral had been told a long time ago being the go-to pony for things was a good skill to have. So, obviously, he made himself the pony to go to.

"How about right now?" It wasn't actually a question, "This is Big Macintosh," She pointed at the farmhand, "He'll show you the ropes."

'YYYYup,'Big Macintosh said.

After a long hour and a half of basic information Feral had it down. The bucking was the easiest part but Big Mac went on to teach him about everything else in the farm. What kind of apples were grown where, where to put each kind of apple, what other plants they grew on the farm (yes, of course they have other plants they're just famous for apple products), what each tool did, he even taught Feral about a bucket and believe it or not Feral learned a couple things about buckets, consequences, rewards, his favorite apple, and something about his sister who also worked on the farm. Feral wasn't pleased by this thought as he thought mares shouldn't have to do the harsh work of the field. Still, it taught him that the family worked as a family on the farm.

He then worked for a hour straight with no breaks but that was the easy part. I was when he spotting someone he recognized that things got difficult. The orange mare with the cowboy hat from the night before standing at the gate as all her friends faded in the distance. He was thinking that introducing himself might help to fix any previous issues they had had. He walked over to the mare, reaching her just as she had turned around. He introduced himself and stuck out his hoof for a shake. She turned and ran. He was sad to see that she didn't except his hoofshake but even more than that he couldn't understand why she had run, did he? Maybe she feared him? But why would she...unless. Maybe she had mistaken him for a drunk pony? Did they still have those? He didn't know. Hewould have to think about it more later. He went back to work.

He had a simple enough job and they had decided on a decent wage as far as starting wages go. He worked quickly as it was applebuck season and there needed to be plenty of apples. Granny Smith had said that Feral might have a couple late nights in order to make sure they got them all before Nightmare Night, whatever that was. Just after nightfall he saw the mare from earlier return to her farmhouse. He was on a distant hill and all he could see is the light she carried. Even so, he was sure it was her. Later that night when he was too tired to buck the trees anymore he used magic to light his way and pick apples off of trees. It had been a long, long time since he had used magic so he took it slow picking one off at a time and soon he could pick a couple off at a time. Eventually, he was too tired for even magic and he gave up and fell asleep under the first tree he would buck the next day. He couldn't wait. This adventure was unraveling around him and all he had to do was follow the right path.

He had a marvelous dream. He dreamed of soared around the sky as he had done once before. He dreamed that he ran into Twilight and her friends and all the other lovely people in Ponyville. He dreamed of Friendship, and Magic, and Friendship being Magic. It was when the dreamed morphed that the nightmares came. He dreamed of Princess Celestia coming and locking him in chains. He dreamed of the horror of never seeing light. He dreamed of Luna and her sweet smile and the way she raised the moon. He dreamed of Luna so far away in a place he couldn't reach however hard he tried and eventually had to give up. He gave into the sorrow and the despair. He gave into Celestia's whim. But he couldn't just let it end in sorrow, no, he would break out or die. And he couldn't break out. His horn glowed and he heard himself scream in agony. That's when he woke up under the next tree to be bucked. He was back in a world where he had a chance, a chance to be good, a chance to live, a chance to make friends, and there's no way he was going to give it up this time.


	4. Chapter 4:What is Nightmare Night?

**What is Nightmare Night?**

Feral had been working for most of the day and as for as he could tell it was about noon. He was hungry still only having eaten anything other than a sandwich in the past couple of days. He looked around quickly, scanning the area around him. The apple wouldn't mind one small apple. He looked at the closest bucket filled to the tip with apples. He grabbed one and while making sure no one saw him he ate the apple in two big bites. This pleased his stomach to a point he couldn't explain. He smiled at himself. He went back to work bucking one tree at a time which he found a slow process. He could use magic but that would take practice and he might lose the sad physical shape he already was in. He hadn't eaten, he had slept very little, his last drink of water was the water he drank from the river under the bridge to Ponyville. The same water had later been splashed into Twilight's face when he visited her house. He had really messed up with Twilight and her friends.

As if on cue Twilight's farmhand friend appeared in the distance with a wagon in tow that she had started to fill with apples. When Applejack had left the barn she was told that the Stallion, or Feral they called him, hadn't checked in after he got the job. The last time Big Mac had seen him was when he was being trained to be a farmhand. Applejack now greatly feared whoever this Feral was. He was on the Apple family's land now and as they always did the Apple family would defend their land. Applejack had gone out to collect apples from the baskets that had been filled. She had been amazed at the amount of trees he had bucked in one day. She spotted him after he had spotted her and surprisingly he didn't walk over. After she had seen him he simply turned and continued on with his job, bucking trees.

Bucking trees was much easier to do than dumping apples into a wagon. For one, the wagon slowly got heavier as she continued to dump more and more apples into the wagon while Feral continued on his business knocking down even more apples for her to pick up. Eventually the cart had been filled and Applejack's options were to run after Feral or return the apples to the barn. With much hesitation she turned the wagon around heading back to the large barn she had called home for so long. As long as Feral didn't harm anything then there was no reason for her to worry too much. Applejack had gotten back to the barn and was met by a very hyper Pinkie Pie.

'Hey! Applejack!' Pinkie Pie wore her usual smile.

'Hey, Pinkie. What brings ya here to the farm?' Applejack asked.

Pinkie stopped bouncing up and down for a moment. That's when Applejack realised she was wearing a basket hat on her head with a number of envelopes in it. Applejack recognised the hat from back when she had thrown Pinkie Pie a surprise birthday party and Pinkie Pie had tried to throw Gummy an after-birthday party. It was a long story that had ended in another letter sent to Princess Celestia about friendship. Applejack reached into the basket and pulled out one of the many envelopes in the basket hat.

As Pinkie bounded off she yelled back, 'The whole family is invited.'

Applejack smiled as her friend continued to bound off but ass Pinkie saw the smile she slowed down ever so slightly to savor it, she loved smiles. Her friend eventually disappeared around the bend and Applejack opened, what she was guessing was, her invitation. She was correct and like always Applejack couldn't help but be excited for that night, as Pinkie's partys were always the best of the best. Applejack made sure to offer to take Big Mac, Granny Smith, and Applebloom, who all agreed to come with. Applejack even considered asking Feral but decided against it as he was still much to shady of a character.

That night was the party and despite the short notice half of Ponyville had shown up for it, Pinkie Pie had done quite a lot of invitation delivering. Old friends were catching up with each other, current friends learned about current events and laughed with friends, and if that wasn't enough new friends were being made everywhere. There were too many people to fit in only Sugar Cube Corner so a lot of it had spread into the streets of Ponyville. The markets would have been booming with business if any of the traders had stayed in their stalls. Instead, they all were at Pinkie's party already having the time of their life like they should have been.

The Spirits of Harmony gathered in their usual location for the parties, in Pinkie's room. They liked to discuss some things in private before going out in the public. They had saved Equestria many times and had quickly become role models to the public and while this was easy for some of them it was difficult for others. They tried to talk in private when they could. Today, at this party, though, everyone had arrived in Pinkie's room before Pinkie. This was anything but normal to the group. If anyone was going to arrive at the party it was going to be Pinkie and if her friends knew her at all they would know that she arrived early at all costs and they did know this. Which lead them to wonder, where was she?

About a half an hour before, Pinkie Pie was preping the big surprise for that nights party. She just had to find him first. Apple Acres was a large place but like many things she seemed to just know where to go. She made a couple twists and turns and was shocked when she did not find him. After a while looking she became worried that she would be late for the party, which by her standards meant she was only going to be five minutes early. Eventually she tried calling for him.

'Crazy Stallion? Mr. Stallion! Where are you?' She called. Some of the Apple family probably would have heard her if they hadn't left early to catch the markets before they closed for the party, 'Stallion.'

Out of the quiet of the Acres Pinkie Pie heard a loud thunk and some apples falling from a tree, she had found her surprise. She quickly galloped toward the sound, avoiding empty trees as she went. Obviously, someone had been working extremely hard at getting the apples out of the trees. Pinkie had heard the day before that the Stallion had appeared at Apple Acres and she hoped now that he was still there. When she finally reached the source of the sound he was resting under the last tree. This tree was no different than the other trees except that it was the last one on the Apple property that hadn't been bucked. Feral thought he had done a good job moving quickly so far so he decided to take a rest. Sadly for him, the rest was very much short lived as he spotted the pink mare bounding through the trees. She didn't look like she was going to slow down and that meant bad things for Feral unless he thought of something quickly.

He stood up standing in a firm, locked position facing the progressing mare. He could do a couple different things but being the smart guy he was Feral did them all. As she got closer his horn began to glow, then he side stepped and stuck out his arm. Pinkie realized the effects very quickly. The magic slowed her down dramatically and while Feral still wasn't strong enough to stop a Pinkie Pie on full power, he had insurance. Pinkie Pie hit his arm and using the strenght Feral had inherited from his mother he managed to slow her to a stop.

Pinkie skidded, slid, and spun to a stop. Now sitting on the ground she could see the Stallion in front of her. At the same time it was difficult to see him with his black coat. Luckily, His green eyes shone bright as if they were glowing. Pinkie didn't waste time with introduction or hellos or even many words at all. She very simply got up from her from her seat on the floor of the artificial forest, grabbed Ferals large hoof and pulled him off in the direction of her house. Feral would have resisted but when someone came looking for him like this he could only assume that there was danger afoot and that they had come for his help. He never denied his help to anyone in need and with that strange logic he decided that he would follow her instead of have him be dragged by her.

He was happy to discover this pink mare could keep a good, constant speed that he could keep up with. While they were running Feral often considered striking up a conversation but thought it an inappropriate time. Finally, Pinkie Pie started a conversation and it wasn't the one that Feral would have expected, 'Your gonna love the party,' She smiled, so excited to talk to her new friend-to-be.

When Feral heard the word party he came to a screeching halt. Pinkie didn't understand why he had stopped and while she didn't want to stop, she couldn't show up to the party without the surprise. So she turned toward the Stallion. Pinkie knew his real name but like the crazy mare she was she just didn't use it for one reason or another, "What is it Stallion?"

"What do you mean, party? I've got work to do. I don't have time to go to a party. I still have to pick up half the apple baskets...," He pause as he realized what she had called him, "Wait, what did you call me?"

Pinkie seemed to ignore his later question, "No time for a party maybe but there's no way you can miss a Pinkie Pie Party!"

"I bet I can," He shot back.

Pinkie Pie had seen this before in many of the people she befriended one of them even being her best friend, Twilight. She took her usual approach at this point, she insisted, "Oh come ooooooooooon. Everyone's gonna be there. People are canceling their plans all across Ponyville to come"

Feral thought about the idea of ditching his responsibilities for a night, "No, no, can't be done, I don't even know when the due date is. It could be tomorrow for all I know."

Pinkie Pie giggled, "How do you not know when you have to be done?"

"Well Granny Smith said 'nightmare night'," Feral replied. He hadn't realized when he was making the deal because he was distracted by one thing or another but she had said 'Nightmare Night' and he really had no idea what that was. Of course, as a prideful stallion he very much hated admitting he was really unaware of anything.

Pinkie Pie could tell he was just pushing for when Nightmare Night was and as the kind pony she was, she gave it to him, " That's in a week."

The words struck like bullets. He had work hard for almost two days straight and managed to get all of the apples out of the trees a week early? They had said he might have to spend a couple late nights not spend two late nights and maybe half an afternoon hauling the apples back. Had he really just completely failed to manage his time, given the fact he didn't actually know when he had to finish, but still. Feral wasn't the happiest camper at the moment until he realized what this revelation meant. It meant he could go to this party and have fun with Pinkie Pie, who looked like she had already accepted him as a friend, go do whatever and eat things and know that tomorrow he didn't have to show up for work and could still make the same money as if he had. He suddenly broke into a smile though Pinkie probably couldn't tell in the dark night they stood in.

"Well then let's go!" He exclaimed. The mood swing probably would have startled Pinkie if she wasn't overjoyed by his acceptance. It took them near no time at all to reach Sugar Cube Corner as now the two, official, friends raced each other there. It was a close match and Feral was out of breath by the end but he had managed to keep up with Pinkie. Pinkie looked like she was ready to go again though Feral could tell she was breathing slightly harder. He was still extremely impressed by how fast she could run. Of course, if Feral wanted to he could've made excuses as he was still recovering from his last inconvenience.

When Feral had caught his breath he entered the party with Pinkie by his side. Pinkie Pie quickly left to go meet her other friends in the 'special location' which Feral guessed was Pinkie's room. She left in a rush as the party had already started and from what he knew of Pinkie, which wasn't much, she didn't seem much like she liked being late. He didn't hold her back but he couldn't quite say he wanted her to leave. Feral had been to many a social occasion but back then he pulled a chariot and the most communicating he ever did was getting a 'thank you' from the rider, which in his case only happened once, or making small talk with the people who couldn't actually get into the party for one reason or another and while ponies like that were there ever time he only ever talked to one. Despite this Feral had been trained very thoroughly in how to communicate and he prided himself at how good he was at it but when it came to starting a conversation with someone he didn't know he was sort of at a loss and he didn't want to sound stupid.

Luckily for him in a small, close town like Ponyville, when your new, you tend to get noticed a lot. So, when Feral just sort of stood there, all shy and unable to start a conversation, ponies began approaching. was first asking Feral about his last couple of days which he described in depth to her, which still didn't last more than a couple of minutes as he hadn't done much. Then approached to get to help him with a new batch of something or other coming out of the oven but had left practically everyone at the party aware of Feral's presence and slowly more approached him. He quickly memorized names that he might need later. Cheerilee, a teacher, Aloe, Berry Frost, Berry Punch, Berry Icicle, Berry seemed like a common name, Cherry Berry, Coconut, Millie, Noteworthy, a stuck up pony named, Octavia, a DJ named Vinyl Scratch, and Roma, one of the traders he saw at the market the day before. He even met three little foals who called themselves the cutie mark crusaders. Their names were Applebloom, who looked a lot like a younger version of the orange mare, Sweetiebelle, who looked a lot like the white mare he had seen before at Twilights house, and Scootaloo,who didn't look like anyone, in particular. He smiled as they explained their quest to find their cutie marks and laughed at their many trials, they laughed as well. People still surrounded him and as the crusaders told their tales Lyra asked, "So, what's your talent?"

Whenever someone asks that to somepony everypony's eyes go to that persons flank. When all those eyes reached Ferals flank it near blinded them. Suddenly, a silence fell over the crowd and Feral looked around for the cause. He spotted the mares, including Pinkie Pie, coming from the stairs and assumed it must have been them that caused the silence. He gladly trotted over to the group with a smile on his face.

He turned to Pinkie, "Hi, Pinkie Pie."

Her friends were shocked to see him. The yellow one with the pink hair hid behind Twilight, the blue with the rainbow mane took a threatening stance, the white one that looked like Sweetebelle gave him a look that Feral could relate to those that the nobles would give those who didn't please them, he had gotten it quite a lot, the farmhand mare made sure the blue on didn't do anything stupid, and Twilight took a defensive stance. Pinkie, on the other hand, had a huge smile on her face, like always. She turned to her friends, "SURPRISE!"

After a long whispering conference between her friends they broke and he finally met Pinkie's friends. The white one was actually Sweetiebelle's sister, he could've guessed. She was a fashion designer and her name was a Rarity with a cutie mark of three diamonds. The farmhand was Applejack and, like Rarity with Sweetiebelle, was Appleblooms sister. Her hat reminded him of someone he knew a long time ago who really like one hat in particular. Feral no longer remembered that mares name. Rainbow Dash was reluctant to introduce herself and refused to shake his hoof but before he moved on to meeting the last one he did something that he thought would get her to want to know him, he challenged her to a race. Fluttershy was the last to introduce herself and it took a while and all of the other friends help to build up the confidence to introduce herself which she did almost inaudibly. When he was finally done introducing himself he thought of something.

"I actually have a question for you guys?" He started. They waited for his question, "What exactly is Nightmare Night?" Nopony but Pinkie knew he didn't know what Nightmare Night was and, honestly, it just made him look even more clueless than he already looked to Twilight and her friends but, luckily for him, they were kind enough to explain.

Twilight began, "Nightmare Night is a holiday that has existed in Equestria for almost a thousand years now. It was based off the myth that Nightmare Moon would come and eat you alive if you didn't leave candy for her. The candy was collected by dressing up in costumes and asking around at house. The leftovers were from that night left a lot of candy for towns. Often towns no longer leave the sacrificial candy any longer but Ponyville still does. Of course as you, hopefully, have heard Nightmare Moon was discovered as true and it turns out it was only Princess Luna corrupted by evil after being trapped on the moon for a thousand years. Now Luna comes here every year to visit us on Nightmare Night,"Twilight finished.

Feral didn't show any change in emotion, as he always tried, especially when it was hard not to. Luna? Was coming to Ponyville? And he was in this sort of state? Did she even remember? And why would she have been trapped on the moon? That one was obvious. It had to have been Celestia. But how could Celestia have that power? And what could possibly lead her to do that? There were a lot of questions running through his mind so much so that he didn't realize that everyone was staring at him now. Not all at the same time, one would glance over and then another one would. And then Pinkie Pie asked the question everyone had on their minds.


End file.
